Pope Francis called on hundreds of thousands of young pilgrims in Panama on Saturday to reject the temptation to live their lives online, and get involved in their communities. Life was not “in the cloud, waiting to be downloaded, a new app to be discovered, or a technique of mental self-improvement,” the 82-year-old pontiff told a massive vigil at the World Youth Day gathering. “It is not enough to be connected all day long. To feel respected and asked to get involved, is ...

If you believe the world is flat, don’t count on YouTube recommending videos supporting your theory. That’s because YouTube is promising to stop promoting so many sensationalistic clips that revolve around scientifically proven falsehoods and other suspect information, such as conspiracy theories revolving around the US government’s involvement in the 9/11 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York. YouTube, part of Google, announced its de-emphasis on misleading ...

Russia’s communication watchdog said on Monday it was opening administrative proceedings against Twitter and Facebook for failing to explain how they plan to comply with local data laws, the Interfax news agency reported. Roskomnadzor, the watchdog, was quoted as saying that Twitter and Facebook had not explained how and when they would comply with legislation that requires all servers used to store Russians’ personal data to be located in Russia. The agency’s head, ...

Facebook’s WhatsApp messenger service is limiting the number of times a user can forward a message in a chat to only five recipients. Company executives said this aims to limit the spread of “misinformation and rumors.” Previously, a WhatsApp user could forward a message to 20 recipients. WhatsApp has been trying to find ways to stop misuse of the app, following concerns that the platform was being used to spread fake news and other false information. WhatsApp will roll out an ...

Over the past few weeks, social media has been taken over by the 10-Year Challenge: the latest online fad where users post two pictures themselves 10 years apart, allowing them to reminisce and engage with their friends and family. This trivial internet craze led me to ponder what Bashar al-Assad would post on his social media account if he had the chance, and how this would be reflective of his career and future aspirations. The Arab Economic Summit, taking place in Lebanon over the weekend, is ...

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it had removed hundreds of Russia-initiated pages, accounts and groups that it judged to be involved in coordinated inauthentic behavior on its Facebook and Instagram platforms. Facebook's head of cybersecurity policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, said in a blog post it had unearthed two separate operations which originated in Russia, with one active in multiple countries across eastern Europe and the other specific to Ukraine. The company said it had taken down about 364 ...

A total of 42,406 social media accounts were investigated and judicial action was taken against 18,376 social media users in Turkey during 2018, Turkish news site Bianet reported, citing a report by the country’s Interior Ministry. The bulk of judicial action taken against social media users according to the report which was published on Dec. 31, 2018, was due to "conducting propaganda for a terrorist organization, promoting such organizations, declaring affiliation with terrorist ...

Residents of Tehran complained about the spread of “bad odors” in various parts of the Iranian capital even as authorities appealed to citizens to help them search for the source of smell, Iranian media reported. “The reason for the bad smell is the explosion of a sewage pipe network in the Enghelab (revolution) square in central Tehran,” the government-run newspaper Iran said. According to IRNA, an expert team has been set up to find the source of bad odor, which has ...

US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell on Saturday tweeted his anger at the Iranian regime’s use of Twitter, while banning it for the Iranian people. “Iranian Regime gets to be on @twitter but not the Iranian people...” Grenell tweeted in response to an account purporting to belong to Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani.Larijani had just opened his account, tweeting for the first time on Friday: “To be able to communicate well with the dear people [of Iran] and ...

An alien invasion? The Rapture? The sky flashed an eerie blue over New York City on Thursday night and social media users feared the worst.Extraterrestrial activity was a leading theory: “IM SORRY WHAT???? THE SKY JUST TURNED BLUE???? literally so confused I think aliens just tried to steal new york,” one user wrote on Twitter.“Apparently aliens are landing in New York City right now bcs the sky’s blue,” wrote another. In this trying time, some saw the hand of God ...